Malic Amalya: The Watchman’s Gaze

Radical Art Theory Nights

Malic Amalya: The Watchman’s Gaze

An introduction to queer-feminist film theory & experimental film practice

January 26, 2016
7:00 – 8:30 PM
Southern Exposure
RSVP to Eventbrite, limited to 15 participants THIS EVENT IS AT CAPACITY, email Claire LaRose at [email protected] to be added to the waitlist

In Jean Genet’s 1950 film Un Chant D’Amour (A Song of Love), an imprisoned man is infatuated with the man in the adjacent cell while a prison guard voyeuristically watches their flirtatious dance unfold. Caught in the act of looking, the guard’s own homosexual arousal is transformed from a “mischievous" abuse of power to violent wrath.

Unpacking the gazes of the watchman, of the imprisoned men who are denied the pleasure of looking, of Genet as director and author, and of the audience, this class will tie together feminist film theory, experimental film practice, and queer resistance to the prison industrial complex.

Required reading/viewing:
Jean Genet, Un Chant D’Amour (A Song of Love), 1950
Margaret Olin, “Gaze,” in Critical Terms for Art History, edited by Robert S. Nelson and Richard Shiff, University of Chicago Press, 1996
(participants will receive a pdf of this text after RSVPing)

Malic Amalya is a moving-image artist working at the cross sections of avant-garde cinema traditions, queercore DIY communities, and feminist and critical race theories. Malic's films have screened widely, including in the Crossroads Film Festival in San Francisco, the TIE Cinema Exposition, the Onion City Experimental Film & Video Festival, and MIX NYC. Malic holds an MFA from the University of Illinois at Chicago and an MA from the San Francisco Art Institute. He teaches in the First Year Program at CCA and in the Public Education Department at SFAI.

Radical Art Theory Nights are conversations about art theory, art history, or research-based art practices that reflect on narratives of the historically marginalized. Visiting writers, curators, and artists contend with both current and canonized concerns, critically engage with texts, and lead open community discussions.

Radical Art Theory Nights are facilitated and organized by C.A. Greenlee in partnership with Southern Exposure’s Artists in Education program.